PROVIDENCE – Gasoline prices in Rhode Island and Massachusetts fell, according to AAA Southern New England.
The auto club’s Aug. 9 survey, a day later than usual due to Rhode Island’s observance of Victory Day, found the average price of self-serve, unleaded regular was $3.83 per gallon, down 2 cents from a week ago.
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Prices at the pump in the Bay State averaged $3.74, also down 2 cents.
In Rhode Island, prices ranged from $3.65 to $3.97; the Ocean State average was 17 cents above the national average of $3.65. A year ago, the average price was $2.75.
Meanwhile, in New York, Bloomberg News reported that crude oil was rebounding from a 10-month intraday low on speculation that the Federal Reserve will act to boost investor confidence.
Crude pared a decline of as much as 6.9 percent before a meeting at which Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and his colleagues may strengthen the central bank’s commitment to monetary stimulus to halt a rout in global markets. U.S. productivity declined in the second quarter.
“The Fed meeting is the inflection point that’s going to decide it all,” said Peter Beutel, president of trading advisory company Cameron Hanover Inc. in New Canaan, Conn. “People are buying ahead of the Fed comments and the possibility that the Fed will say or do something to halt the decline and get these markets back into a regular rhythm.”
Crude for September delivery rose 49 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $81.80 a barrel at 10 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract earlier fell to $75.71 a barrel, the lowest price since Sept. 29 on an intraday basis, and rose to $83.05. Futures have fallen 10 percent this year.
At stations in Rhode Island this week, the survey found average self-serve prices of $3.97 per gallon for midgrade unleaded, $4.09 for premium unleaded gasoline and $4.01 for diesel.
